Crossing The Veil

30, Therendor, 998 YK

After a brief rest at the camp, the Mourner’s continue on into the night following Zorrhan’s mystical compass. Several more hours they travel into the dark forest when they come upon a stone carved stairwell descending deep into the belly of Khyber.

Zorrhan points the way and Tiberius descends first with the rest of the Mourners on his heels. Roughly 90 to 100 feet below the surface the carved stairwell ends on a pad next to a murky stream. The stream is bridge by a rickety looking wooden path just wide enough for one person to cross at a time. The water is too dark to gauge its depth. Blade, seeing hesitation in the eyes of his companions, crosses first to test the strength of the bridge.

With the bridges construction proven sound, the rest of the group crosses with Kysa and Tiberius bringing up the rear. Before the group can complete the traversing, an ambush is sprung and battle rages. Two Barghests emerge from the waters next to the bridge taking out Zorrhan almost immediately. A score or more goblins emerge from nearly every crevice in the cavern to sling javelins and arrows at the party before rushing ahead to engage in melee. The battle rages for many desperate moments with the Mourner’s losing Kysa, and nearly Tiberius and Twizzle before the enemies could be defeated. Working with his last prayers, Magnarr restores Zorrhan and does his level best to get the party back to fighting order before the group continues on.

Traveling further down into the hole that is this cavern, the party discovers an offshoot tunnel that descends deeper down into Khyber and at a more rapid decline. They also find that the walls of this tunnel give off an eerie purple sparkling hew. After many moments of travel down its dark depths the tunnel ends at a set of golden doors set with a jewel that seems to suck the light from their lantern.

Opening the door the Mourners found a single room wherein the walls are lined with archaic ruins in the draconic language. The runes glow a radiant white and seem to hover above the walls them selves. Magic hums from their very presence. It doesn’t take Twizzle and Zorrhan very long to realize that they have come upon a piece of the Draconic prophecy. After many minutes of study, both decipher its words but not necessarily its meaning. Then Zorrhan remembers that the prophecy’s power can be captured in a dragon shard and kept for later decerning. Using the Khyber shard the group found earlier, Zorrhan collects the essence of the prophecy with the shard and stores it safely away.

As the Mourner’s ascend the tunnel to leave the depths of Khyber they make it back to the stream where the first into the caverns and battled the barghests earlier. As they prepare to make their way across the bridge and out, a figure slowly begins emerging from the water again. Startled, the group falls back into battle formation, determined not to be surprised again. As the figure continues to emerge they realize, to their terror at first, that they are looking upon the emerging form of a huge Silver Dragon. As the water cascades down over his body, he roars and unfurls his wings, sending shivers through each member of the party.

Extending his head forward, and speaking in his own tongue, he references the prophecy that the Mourner’s just found. He speaks specifically of the Seeker of Inspirations and Zorrhan steps forward to parlay with the dragon in his native tongue. The dragon calls himself Lanzerrix, the Bringer of Dreams, and states that he has put himself at odds with others of his order for revealing the prophecy to the Seeker. Though his kind believes that mortals minds are too insignificant to understand the prophecy true meanings Lanzerrix believes that all beings play a part in destiny. He tells the Seeker to unravel the prophecy and fulfill his destiny or the price of failure will be more than any one mans loss. Kingdoms and Cultures crumble on the backs of destinies, Lanzerixx says.

With that Lanzerrixx bids the party to leave. After passing by Lanzerrixx, the dreamscape seems to crumble around the Mourner’s and each awakens the next day in their bed’s. It all feels like a dream except that Blade, and the shard, are their to remind them of just how real it all was.

17 - 30, Therendor, 998 YK

For the next several weeks, the Mourners spend time in rest at their new digs in Rattlestone awaiting further word from Lady Eladrien. Meanwhile, Zorrhan begins work modify Blades face plate and creating potions for the group to use in upcoming missions.

During the evening hours, Zorrhan begins to experience difficulties sleeping. At first the problem seems minor, the nights are just rough with sleep being difficult. Then the problem persists with Zorrhan’s dreams becoming disquieting, with an almost realistic quality. After more than a week of this discomforting effect, the dreams seem to become overpowering, drawing Zorrhan into a state of awakened being, even during his night time hours.

During the days, the other Mourner’s begin to notice a deterioration in Zorrhan’s behavior and an overall increase in agitation levels. Worried, Magnarr tries to give counsel to Zorrhan only to get his ear nearly bit off in the process.

Then nearing the end of the second week while in the midst of night, a strange occurrence happens. While in the dream state, Zorrhan finds himself wandering through a deep jungle. He can feel himself being drawn to something though he doesn’t know quite what it is. While hacking he way through the heavy vegetation, Zorrhan is attacked by the vines that he is making his way through. They reach out for him, hell bent on strangling him and choking the life from him. As he struggles to break free, he can hear others shouting in the distance. Others crying out as if also trying to overcome some strange attacker in the night. Refocusing his thoughts to task, he fights on for his life. Then in the darkness bright flashes fill the sky as if lightning from the ground. His eyes try to focus from the temporary blindness as he thinks he sees Twizzle through the trees and vines. Struggling on and determined to break free he begins to see more figures emerging from the heavy growth, Kysa, Blade, and now Tiberius. Shouts ring out from all around as his companions seem to be battling some bug like creature resembling giant mosquitos. As the scene unfolds all around him, and the flashes of magical light continue on for many more moments, Zorrhan struggles to maintain his breath and keep the vines from taking his life.

After several more moments of struggle and combat, the group finally frees Zorrhan from the vines and all of the mosquito-esque creatures are chased off or killed. Magnarr heals the wounded, including himself, and then the party gathers on an outcropping over looking the surrounding jungle. To each this feels to be a dream, and then Blade speaks the obvious, where are we. After a moments pause and then puzzled looks, and a laugh or to as to how or why they were in each others dream, Blade again stopped them. “This is no dream, for I don’t sleep. Then there is the giant black vortex that appeared in our apartment and swept me up depositing me in this place where each of you just also happened to be. When last I checked each of you were sleeping soundly.”

Zorrhan and Twizzle considered this new information and both arrived at the same conclusion, Blade must have been somehow transported to Dal-Quor, the region of dream, where the rest of the group enter through their sleep. Somehow, they all managed to escape their own dreams and end up in this same dream state. Before they could finish contemplating their current predicament, a vortex of swirling energy opened right before them and swallowed them up.

Tumbling through the vortex the group could see many different dream states swirling about them. Then all at once the vortex opened again and toss them out and into a dark forest. Some of the party landed upon the ground while a few splashed down into a small, nearby pond.

Zorrhan, again feeling that pull in his gut, gathered the party around him and led them into the dark forest. After a few hours of wondering, and several of the party wondering if they were hopelessly lost, the Mourners began hearing a dreadful sound in the distance and all around. Howls of wolves echoed through the night and fill the air with dread. Hurrying on the party eventually came to a clearing in the forest were the found a semi-circle of four tents around a low burning fire. Approaching slowly they saw no apparent occupants. That’s when Tiberius called out that they were surrounded and get into formation.

The Mourners weren’t nearly as quick as the hunters that had been stalking them in the night. From out of the darkness and from all directions a wave of wererats descended upon them. As they tried desperately to recover from the surprise assault the wererats leveled them with, the true threat emerged in a second wave. Howls rang out as werewolves moved in a second wave to over power the circled Mourner’s. Outnumbered three to one, the group began to bend as bite after bite landed on the soft rear flanks of the party. That’s when Blade and Twizzle set to work. A few well timed assaults began to turn the tide and once the advantaged had been gained, Tiberius was able to put his mighty Fullblade to more effective use. With superior support from Kysa, Magnarr, and Zorrhan, the group managed to turn the tide and overcome a devastating assault.

Moving on, Zorrhan led the group further into the night and the forest ahead.

16 Therendor, 998 YK

Arriving in the Rat’s Market, it doesn’t take the Mourner’s long to locate Shakan amongst the vendors lining the streets. Zorrhan send Blade to make contact with Shakan so that matters can be handled quietly and out of notice. Blade stealthily manuevers through the masses and silently stands next to Shakans blanket waiting for the little Goblin to take notice. After a moment Shakan catches a glimmer of the warforged’s metalic foot glimmering from under his cloak and his breath catches in his throat. Slowly he scans from the foot to Blades chroamed face and pauses, thinking to himself, “Should I run, or scream?” Shakan does neither and instead gulps hard and squeaks out a helpless plea, “Oh please don’t hurt me?!!” Blade retorts with a blank, “We have returned with that which we promised, let us attend to business in the shadows.” The crowd starts to get nervous as they too realize what has come upon them and steadily an empty circle forms around Blade. Shakan yells at the crowd to vacate his blanket that business is closed for the day. He thens darts behind a column to the rear of the market with Blade in tow.

Once in private Blade summarizes the events that led to the demize of the Red Jackals of Fallen. He tosses Shakan a bag containing the head of Gutter as he continues his story. Sakan opens the bag, shrieks and drops the head as he realizes the foul contents for what they are, and stares at Gutters head as it roles around the floor. When Blade finishes his story. He looks to Shakan and says,“as promised, I brought his ears, I just didn’t remove them from his head.” Shakan stares at Blade wondering if that was a warforged’s attempt at humor and cracks a grin before bursting into hysterics. Finally, those damn Jackyl’s were out of the way. Now he and the other merchants might be able to make a better profit and gain some peace in the market!

Hearing the hysterical laughter the rest of the Mourners approached to see what was happening. After a few moments of exchanged banter with Shakan and many thank you’s on Shakan’s part, Zorrhan asks Shakan what he know’s about the Red Jackyl’s in Gate of Gold. They give Shakan a melted brick of gold containing what was left of the thugs from Callestan. Shakan greedily snatches the gold before realizing the grisly contents and then pauses to reflect on its state. I know nothing off hand but if you meet me at this address (Hands the mourners a note scribbled on some parchment) in four hours, I can see what I can dig up.

While Shakan goes to uncover clues as to were the relic may now be and any details concerning the Red Jackyl’s of Gate of Gold, The Mourners decide to investigate the address Shakan gave them. Their investigation leads them to a tenement section of Malleon’s Gate and what appears to be the residence that Shakan keeps. Uncovering nothing of note, they wait for Shakan to return.

Later in the day Shakan returns and finds the Mourners awaiting him in the streets outside his home. The move inside were he tells them that a group known as the Blades hired the Red Jackyl’s to murder the Cannith agent in Malleon’s Gate two days ago and steal the relic. From their the Jacky’l were suppose to pass the relic off through a series of drops meant to confuse anyone hired to find it until it got to its destination, the buyer. Thing is, the Blades decided to make it even harder to track by systematically killing everyone who’s had any contact with the relic along its journey. That’s why you bumped into the tin cans outside in the streets of Fallen. Its also created another problem, they have already wiped out the Jackyl’s of Gate of Gold. The Jackyl’s caught on to what was happening and sold the relic to the Tyrants before the Blades arrived. The relic bounced from Gate of Gold to Callestan before being moved back to Gate of Gold. That’s as much as I could uncover in the time I had. The tyrants must have a safe house in Gate of Gold as well. If you head there and rattle some locals, I’m sure you’ll be able to uncover were it is.

The Mourners, as fast as their feet will carry them, leave for Gate of Gold. Determined to find the tyrants before the Blades can again move the relic and evade them, the Mourners scour the streets of Gate of Gold for information. Finally, Magnarr spots a local couple that he feels he can sway using the power of the Soveriegn Host. As they duck inside their home, Magnarr knocks on the door. The old gentleman answers and Magnarr sets to the task, swaying with religious doctrine and words of comfort. A few moments later, the group is on their way to what they believe to be the location of the Tyrants hideout.

As they approach Zorrhan notices the heavy smell of smoke and soot in the air. A couple blocks more and he realizes the glow of fire streching into the ceiling of the tower overhead. The flames of a building on fire lights up the darkness of the district and appear to be centered on the Mourner’s current destination. Hurrying ahead, the group arrives at the address that the locals gave them to find the building ablaze. Heavy flames and smoke pour from every corner of the building. Local neighbors flee from the flames as the building threatens to spread flames into their homes.

As the party stares at what can only be describe as another lost opportunity, a figure strolls out from the front door of the building, smoke and flames trailing behind it. A metallic figure soon emerges from the cloud, seemingly unscathed by the devastation of the fire. He peers slowly at the Mourners, before pacing a few more steps in a stalker like manner. You must be the ones who have cause me all of this trouble. While all others flee before the wrath of smoke and flame, you stand fixed to your purpose. I can only assume you have come seeking this. With the, the warforged holds up a leather satchel. You cannot have it I’m afraid, know that this is the hour of your reckoning and Piety will send you to your end. Your interference stops here. With that Piety tosses the leather satchel behind him, pulls his longsword in one smooth stroke, and draws a line across the concrete bridge. Your move!

The battle is fast and furious. Piety, obviously a Paladin, draws on his holy might to devastate the party with his convictions. The group learns more about just how zealotous the Blades truly are. Drawing on all there resources, and with Kaysa and Blade before forced out of combat after devastating wounds, the Mourners manage to force Piety to also retreat. Piety escapes, however, leaving the leather satchel behind.

With the relic recovered, the Mourners use the magical contact that Lady Eladrien gave them to send word to her that they were ready to meet. Meanwhile, they sought shelter in the sewers of Lower Dura. Several hours later, a messenger owl tracked the party down and delivered a scroll containing a message from Lady E instructing the party to head to the Broken Anvil Inn in Callestan. Once there they would receive further instructions on where to go.

The Mourners follow Lady E’s instruction and arrive a short while later in Callestan. It takes little effort to locate the Anvil, being the only Inn in Lower Sharn of the House of Hospitality makes it somewhat remarkable. Inside they were quickly greeted by Gilly Ghallandha, Inn Keeper and House Ghallanda Heir, who had word to keep the group out of site and well cared for. Secreted to a private booth, the Mourners were treated to all the finest the Anvil had to offer while they listened to the splendid music provided by the Three Forks Quartet. A few hours later, Gilly introduced a tall half-elven man to the party by the name of Tiberius d’Medani. Tiberius informed the group that he was under orders by Lady Eladrien and House Cannith to escort the group to a secret audience chamber to be debriefed on the recent mission. He urged caution and expediency in leaving the venue, but before he could get the Mourners out of the Anvil, trouble found them. Gilly returned quickly and rushed the party out a secret back exit into an alleyway aiding the group in escape before trouble could get out of hand.

Tiberius and his contingent of Cannith Magewrights escorted to Mourners to the secret audience hall his orders provided for. There Lady Eladrien met with the Mourners, recovering the relic, and congratulating the party for living up to her expectations. Lady Eladrien went on to reveal that the Mourner’s would be needed in the coming weeks for more harrowing adventures and shadier tasks. She informed Zorrhan that he would almost assuredly have earned himself an audience with Merrix and rewarded the Mourners further with an apartment in Rattlestone, Middle, Dura.

15-16, Therendor, 998 YK

With the information that they acquired at the Rat’s Market, the Mourners arrive in Fallen at the address of the Red Jackyl Chapterhouse. Zhorran, knowing that Blade is their best option for surveying the inside of the house before major conflict, sends Blade to scout out their would be foes. Blade, summoning the forces of darkness, turns himself into a shadow and slides through the cracks in the front door and quietly down the stairs to the basement.

Moments later Blade returns with his report. The house is heavily fortified with shifters, goblins, and even a few guard drakes. The assault will be bloody, but the Mourners superior battle skills should be more than a match for the rag tag band of thugs. Recon work finished, the troupe slipped through the front door and down the stairs to the basement. Once inside, the Mourners had the quick surprise on the unsuspecting Jackyls.

For the next several moments, battle ensued at a fevered pitch as the Jackyl’s and Mourners clashed in the entry room. Kysa, Twizzle, Zhorran, and Magnarr became entangled in the stairwell with a drake as Blade battled with a host of goblins. Meanwhile, two Crossbowman rained down bolts from atop ledges on Blade as he did his level best to make quick work of the goblin lackeys. Once the party in the stairwell managed to shake free of the drake and join Blade in the entry room, the rest of the Jackyl’s dropped quickly. Blade, ascending in shade form to the top of the ledge, quickly realized that the battle was far from over.

In the next room awaited 6 more goblin lackeys and 3 more crossbowmen. Kysa, still below the 10’ ledge that Blade had ascended, moved to the door that accessed the next room and picked the lock. Throwing it open, she found herself rushed by a group of angry goblins. Much to the goblins dismay, Twizzle was ready and sent a burst of fiery energy their way taking the most of them out. The rest of the troupe concentrated on taking out the crossbowmen and in only a few more moments, the second room was clear of enemies. With only a short rest to catch their breath, the Mourners unlocked the door into the next room to find out what awaited them next.

Moving through the door into the next room proved to be a disaster in disguise for the group. Behind the door was a corridor leading left and right and another ledge 10’ up running the length of the hall. Further complicating matters was the fact that the corridor forced the troupe into single file as the entered the hall. As the party moved through the door one by one, the Jackyl’s made the first strike. Two Red Jackyl shifters charged from around the right corridor taking blade by surprise while from the left corridor a pair of goblins descended on Kysa. Blade proved the luckier of the pair as the shifters he was entangled with came up short in their assault. Kysa made short work of the goblins, but their distraction proved fatal. While busy making off with their heads, an ominous figured approached from the shadows and struck a swift and fatal blow. Kysa dropped before she even realized the presence was there.

Announcing his presence with some quick verbal wit, Gutter threatened to kill the intruders into his lair before the evening was over. Realizing the power of their new foe, the remainder of the party focused their most deadly assaults on Gutter hoping to end him before he could get off another such ferocious attack. The counter attack proved successful and Gutter was just as quickly defeated. With the boss out of the picture, the Red Jackyl resistance began to splinter and fragment and the Mourners mopped up. Magnarr moved in the makes sure that Kysa and Gutter were kept alive; Gutter for questioning. Rested, recuperated, with the den now looted and secured, the group set their sites on their prisoner.

Zhorran and Magnarr, with the intimidating presence of Blade, began interrogating Gutter as to the location of the item stolen from the murdered Cannith Agents. At first, Gutter seemed ignorant to what the group were inquiring about but after some thought, Zhorran realized they were framing their questions the wrong way. Gutter, as it turned out, had no clue as to what they had stolen, only that what ever it was, it was sealed within a leather satchel and thet he and his men were under strict orders not to open the satchel. Fearing for his life, Gutter dared not defy the command and delivered the satchel to another team of Jackyl’s awaiting him at another drop point. Gutter told Zhorran that he believed that these Jackyl’s were from a group that held a chapter in Gate of Gold. After a little more intimidation, and genuinely terrorizing Gutter, it was determined that he was all out of info and Zhorran let him go free on the belief that he would flee Sharn for fear of his life.

Discussing the new found information, the Mourners decide that the best course of action for the remainder of the night is to get to Callestan and rent a room for the evening. They would like to continue pursuing their leads to Gate of Gold, but the groups resources are nearly exhausted and Blade and Kysa have already suffered nearly fatals beatings. Rested, resolve in check, the group leaves the Red Jackal Chapterhouse bound for Callestan.

Leaving the house the Mourners encounter another surprise awaiting them in the streets outside. A warforged calling himself Cutlass stood waiting in the street holding the severed head of Gutter. Cutlass informs the party that he’s there to insure that they never see the light of day again. He tells them that they will meet their end by an agent of the Blades and then springs an ambush on the party. The battle is furious and bloody with Blade going down early. The only saving grace is that Zhorran summons his automaton to aid in battle and Kysa finds her inner animal in time to defeat Cutlass in combat. In his death throws, Cutter was able to release a final messenger.

A short while later the party arrived at the Cracked Mirror in Callestan to rest for the evening. They discussed the evenings events but came to no real conclusions about the new player on the scene. The Blades were a complete mystery and where they fit into the grand scheme of things wasn’t clear yet. On the way out the next morning, the Mourners had to make short work of some Callestanian thugs hell bent on robbing them of their riches. No clear cut idea of how to proceed, they decided to return to the Rat’s Market to pay Shakan a visit before proceeding to Gate of Gold.

15, Therendor, 998 YK

As the campaign opens, the characters find themselves thrown together after their home country of Cyre is destroyed in a magical cataclysm. Kysa, Twizzle, and Magnarr all served together in the Cyre’s 4th Frontier Legion, 1st Cohort, 2nd Century. When the cataclysm struct, the unit was utterly wiped out as it was caught in the middle of the speeding magical wall of distruction and the Thranish forces that it was retreating from. This same moment found Zorrhan d’Cannith on task from House Cannith delivering a new batch of Warforged soldier to the 4th Legion and caught in the same crush of retreating soldier and on rushing magical calamity.

When the destruction calmed and the mists had settled over what became the Mournland, the only surviving Warforge from Zorrhan’s new delivery was Blade. Together, and out of necessity, Zorrhan, Twizzle, Magnarr, Kysa, and Blade banded together as Cyran refugees looking for a home. In the first few months after the tragedy, chaos ensued as the borders to neighboring nations were closed to the few refugees who were lucky enough to escape Cyre ahead of the cataclysm. The road was harsh and food was scarce. Then King Boranel of Breland took the lead and opened his kingdom allowing Cyrans to enter and set up encampments. For a while this sufficed until Zorrhan gathered his wits and realized his next move.

With House Cannith’s leadership all but decimated by the destruction in Cyre, what Cannith blood was left behind must come together to rebuild the House. With this in mind Zorrhan realized he needed to travel to Sharn and get in touch with his cousin, Merrix d’Cannith. With this in mind, Zorrhan invited his new family to accompany he with promises of well paying work and better lodgings and off to Sharn the troupe went.

After arriving in Sharn, things didn’t initially go as planned. Zorrhan was turned away at the Cannith enclave being told that most of the Cannith Heirs were away tending to emergencies pertaining to the recent catastrophe in Cyre. Zorrhan’s name was taken and he was pointed in the direction of the Cyran refugee camp in Lower Dura.

After a couple of months longer toiling in virtual poverty and dispair in the Cyran Refugee camp, a House Cannith magewright arrived and summoned Zorrhan and his companions to a secret meeting. Donning cloaks and boarding a skycoach, the magewright escorts the troupe to a undisclosed section of upper Sharn. Once they disembark the skycoah, they are led through a series of dark alleways to a back entrance. Inside the the players meet with Lady Eladrien d’Cannith who introduces herself as head of Cannith South’s division of Special Tactics, or what literally amounts to undercover operations. After many moments of discussion back and forth, as well as introductions, Lady E forms The Mourners and places the group under the employ of Cannith South with her as their Patriarch. The group is covert and as is all her dealings and they are to report only to her via special communications she has set up for them.

Once Lady E has established the group as The Mourners, she wastes little time in doling out their first assignment. They are escorted via Cannith Magewrights to a crime scene in Malleon’s Gate. At the scene they are to investigate what appears to be a murdered Cannith agent and find out what happened to the Cannith artifact he was escorting back to the Cannith compound, as well as who the attackers are.

While investigating the party uncovers that a total of four agents were murdered and that the crime scene stretched back through an alley and into the sewers. The attackers went to great lengths to cover their tracks but a few key details that couldn’t be hidden left some obvious markers as to whom the attackers were. With the clues that were found you could piece together that a local gang of thugs known as the Red Jackyls were the most likely culprits behind the attacks.

During the course of the investigation, Zorrhan happen to spy a suspicious looking goblin eyeing the team from the crowd. Passing this information to the troupe, Blade took it upon himself to slip into his shade form and disappear into the crowd to find the gawking little critter. The task proved more than simple and after a quickly place blade to the throat and some intimidating threats, the little goblin was drug squeeling to were the group was investigating the fallen agent. After some diplomatic efforts to calm the overly rattled goblin, he revealed himself to be Shakan, a merchant in the Rat’s Market. He confirmed the team’s suspicions of the Red Jackyl’s being behind the attacks as well as revealing the whereabouts of the bands chapter house. Shakan information revealed that Gutter, the local chapter head, kept a chapter house in Fallen, Lower Dura.

Armed with this information, as well as a new informant in the Rat’s Market, the party sets out for Fallen.